ONE of Europe’s most wanted men had travelled to many countries while on the run, it has emerged.
South Wales Police is working with the National Crime Agency and international law enforcement agencies to trace Mohammed Ali Ege and return him to the UK, a statement said.
Ege is wanted by police for the murder of 17-year-old Aamir Siddiqi who died at his home in Ninian Road, Roath on 11 April 2010.
Two hitmen were convicted of the murder in a killing for hire which went wrong at his home in front of his parents.
Ege, now 44, fled to India before he could be arrested in connection with Siddiqi’s murder. In 2013, he was arrested in India but in 2017, while awaiting extradition, he escaped from Indian custody, South Wales Police said.
Aamir’s sister told the BBC that the family ‘won’t rest easy’ until Ege faces justice.
According to a report on BBC, Siddiqi believed he was opening the door to a teacher in 2010 when he was stabbed to death in a frenzied drug-fuelled attack by contract killers Jason Richards and Ben Hope.
His parents were also injured as they fought the attackers in vain as they tried to save their son.
The hitmen were paid £1,000 to kill an innocent businessman and father-of-four who lived in a neighbouring street in the Roath area of Cardiff – but they went to the wrong house and killed Siddiqi.
Both hitmen were given a minimum of 40 years in prison each, but the man accused of hiring them was Mohammed Ali Ege, who a court heard was angry over a collapsed property deal.
Five months after Aamir’s murder, South Wales Police offered a £10,000 reward for information on his whereabouts.
Miriam Siddiqi, the victim’s older sister, told the BBC that Ege is believed to have travelled to Sri Lanka, and several countries in Africa, including Morocco or Tunisia, before eventually traveling to Dubai, where he was thought to have been as recently as last year.
Ege was born in Dubai in October 1977, and later settled in Wales. He is known to have used different names, identities and passports.
Detective Inspector Stuart Wales, of the South Wales Police major crime investigations team, said: “Nearly 12 years may have passed but until Mohammed Ali Ege is located and brought back to the UK, this remains a live and priority investigation for South Wales Police.
“There are numerous appeals for information in relation to Mohammed Ali Ege on Interpol, the Major Investigation Public Portal, Crimestoppers, the South Wales Police website and many local, national and international media reports.
“We would ask anyone who has information about his whereabouts to please get in touch – for Aamir’s family who have always acted with such dignity throughout. We have recently updated Siddiqi’s family who we continue to support, and they have repeated their ongoing trust and confidence in us.”
